Larger than expected growth in property assessments and a budget surplus could help Halifax regional councillors avoid a tax rate increase for the year ahead. Chief financial officer Jane Fraser presented updated financial numbers to council’s budget committee on Wednesday. Fraser told councillors her office has now reviewed the final 2020 assessment numbers, and the...
Halifax HR department overstated progress in implementing recommendations from report on anti-Black racism
The city drastically overstated its progress in implementing the recommendations from a 2016 report that found rampant anti-Black racism in the municipal workforce, leaving one councillor wondering whether the city has done anything since to address discrimination. Last year, the department reported that 87.9% (79) of the 90 recommendations from the Employment Systems Review, or...
Parking in the park: Halifax council wants public presentation on controversial Halifax hospital parkade
After the provincial government released a tender for its controversial hospital parkade, regional council wants a presentation on the plan to build on the city’s land. The province wants to build a seven-storey, 900-space parkade next to the Museum of Natural History on Summer St. as part of the QEII Hospital project. The new parkade...
Council’s budget committee opts in favour of menstrual products for municipal facilities
A Halifax councillor’s proposal to stock all municipal facilities with free menstrual products is a step closer to reality, but she’s not happy with the way the program is being budgeted. Council’s budget committee met on Wednesday to consider operating budgets for three municipal business units — Halifax Transit, corporate and customer services, and Halifax...
Halifax auditor general confirms the city’s website redesign was a mess
It will come as no surprise to anyone who has logged on to halifax.ca: the city’s auditor general has confirmed that the redesigned website was riddled with errors when it went live in 2017. But in a report published Tuesday and presented to council’s audit and finance standing committee, auditor general Evangeline Colman-Sadd wrote that...
Halifax police officers in Santina Rao case still working, chief waiting for investigation
The officers involved are still on the job and Halifax Regional Police Chief Dan Kinsella had little to say publicly on Monday about the violent arrest of a young Black mother at Walmart last week, citing an ongoing court case and a potential investigation. Kinsella addressed reporters after a meeting of the Halifax board of...
Halifax rental vacancy drops to 1%, below Toronto, Vancouver
Halifax’s apartment rental vacancy rate has dropped to a new low of 1% — below that of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released its 2019 fall rental market survey on Wednesday. The numbers represent privately-owned apartments in buildings with three or more units, based on an annual survey conducted […]
Councillors cold to cooling-off proposal, and other Halifax City Hall updates
Halifax councillor Shawn Cleary’s proposal for a cooling-off period for councillors and senior officials was met with a cool reception at council. The request for a staff report looking into the policy, which would temporarily bar politicians and some staff from taking a job dealing with the city after their terms ended, came up during...
Halifax keeping $200,000 police services review secret, citing ‘sensitive information’
Halifax is not publicly releasing a consultants’ report into police services in the municipality, citing “sensitive information” around the use of police resources, privacy, and security. Regional council voted in favour of a staff recommendation to accept the report and 26 of its 29 recommendations at its meeting on Tuesday. Most of the recommendations were...
Council preview: Uber rules, climate plan, cooling-off period for bureaucrats
Rules for Uber, a plan for climate change, and a cooling-off period for politicians and staff are all on the agenda for Halifax regional council’s meeting this week. The meeting, starting at 10am Tuesday, also includes an appeal hearing for a design review committee decision at 1pm and a public hearing on a Bedford Highway...